Presentation to REI Update meeting Rajasthan, April 2006 Astrid Dufborg Executive Director

Background GeSCI established in 2003 by the United Nations ICT Task Force Promoted by Ireland, Switzerland, Sweden and Canada Overarching goals are to: –Raise global standards of education for communities in the Partner countries – Make the UN Millennium Development Goals and especially quality education for all a reality Focus initially on Asia, Africa and Latin America

Our Rationale Improving education a cornerstone of sustainable socio-economic development and a key mechanism to enabling people to share in a country's prosperity. Great challenge exists- an estimated 350 million school-aged children not attending school and more than 800 million illiterate adults worldwide ICTs provide an opportunity to realize the EFA goals

What we do Support Partner countries to maximize the impact of ICT4E and ICT4D Convene and align existing efforts and stakeholders for large scale impact Provide strategic guidance and support in project development, management and implementation Facilitate resource mobilization Work at the local, national, and international level Use a multi-stakeholder approach to focus on delivery

Our Approach A complete & sustainable approach that is focused on an end to end model and is comprehensive, demand-driven, efficient, capable and coordinated Supported by a team that includes experts in education and ICTs, and others with experience in both the private and public sectors. Learn and transfer international observations, experiences and best practices in implementing ICTs for Education Deployment of ICT platform Content and Applications User training and support Maintenance and Technical support Management, Monitoring and reporting Educational Objectives Actors Fund- ing

Some lessons we have learnt Common challenges –Programs driven by ICT and not by Education (ICT is only a tool) –Need to grow practices in education and improve pedagogy –Curriculum usually out of step with today’s needs –Forever pilot syndrome –Deploying ICTs without considering other end-to-end components Major recurring issues in most countries –Teacher training and empowerment –Infrastructure and Connectivity –Content Important to have –A Guiding Policy on ICTs in Education by the Ministry of Education –A comprehensive Implementation Plan developed with input from all partners and that highlights priorities, targets, resources, time lines and outcomes

REI partners’ analysis of current scenario GeSCI facilitated workshops involving REI Partners and Ministry of Education Officials on April 3 and 4 and April 19 and 20 Some observations noted by Partners –The REI is an ambitious and progressive project with some unique interventions –The REI is fortunate to have high level political will and support –The REI has a set of core partners which act as “Internal Champions” of the PPP model –The REI has some promising educational partnerships in place already

REI partners’ analysis of current scenario Key Educational Needs –Improving the quality of teachers and overall education experience –Motivating Teachers –Improving school infrastructure e.g. buildings –Attracting and retaining students in schools (Specially girls) –Equipping students with new age skills e.g. critical thinking, analytical and ICT skills

REI partners’ analysis of current scenario Some challenges in implementing ICT in Education programs in REI Teacher Training –No motivation for teachers to attend training –ICT teacher training curriculum not standardized- Several partners each with own ICT training curriculum Content and Curriculum –A lot of e-content available but no evaluation mechanisms –Available E-content doesn’t support curriculum and therefore not often used by teachers Implementation –Disconnects in implementation e.g. teachers trained but no PCs or PCs provided but teachers not trained –District and Block officials often not aware of programs running –Recurring costs not considered by schools

REI partners’ analysis of current scenario Pre-requisites for success and sustainability of REI –Ministry of Education created guiding policy on ICTs in Education linked directly to EFA goals – A comprehensive implementation plan or guiding framework –Alignment of all partners to guiding policy and framework –Buy in from all district officials, partners, stakeholders and community –An efficient program evaluation and feedback mechanism

Thank You